Proof

Here is a little proof that we did celebrate Halloween this year:

We went to the Trunk-or-Treat in Odessa so that I could spend a little time with all three children (including the older two since Halloween AGAIN fell on their father's weekend).  So glad it will be on a Monday next year!!

We had a pink cowgirl, an Army guy, and a Thomas (again) with a pumpkin hat and double ear infection.

We did actually manage to carve pumpkins and even remembered to light them twice!

Unfortunantly, I almost forgot one evening to blow them out and the middle pumpkin was scorched quite badly as a result....thankfully Jackson didn't really notice, but the smell was pretty awful!

And here is some proof for Muzzie-

I got a cute phone call from my dear mother yesterday in which she asked, "Hey, do you still have your dog?"

I assured her that even though I have a difficult time keeping my blog current, we do indeed still have our dog.

He is an adorable little beagle named Skipper and we love him!

Texture is Good

This past weekend I finally took on a project I've wanted to do for four years. 

When we moved into our house, it had the ugliest wallpaper in the dining room and in the room that is now my boys' bedroom.

As a quick and inexpensive solution, we primed and painted over the wallpaper in both rooms. 

Huge improvement? Yes.

Permanent solution? No.

I grew tired of being able to count all of the wallpaper lines every time I sat at my dining room table.

So with a little joint compound, some paint, and a whole lot of guts (hoping I wouldn't seriously mess up my walls!), I immersed myself in a transformation....

Here's the beginning of texturing......

no more green:

Covering the walls:



A little beige paint and VOILA!:

 So much better!

This weekend I'll be in the boys room hoping for the same results!

A Vow of Silence

This morning I decided to take a vow of silence. 

Not hard to do when you wake up with almost no voice.

These darn allergies get me at this time every single year. 

So, I whispered my way through the morning and got each child drop off at school.

(Including Jackson who is now going to full-time preschool....hip, hip, hurray!!)

Then, I spent the day resting my non-existent voice and hoping that by some miracle it would suddenly reappear by 3:00pm in time to referree kids during the after-school witching hours.

No such luck.

Looks like I will be extending my vow of silence into tommorrow.

Not that I have much choice!

If you need to talk to me, please email.  You won't hear me if I answer the phone.

Just ask my husband!

What I'd Like To Accomplish This Week...

Oh, and this

And how about repainting the outside of this:

I'm thinking new light cream trim color and black painted iron posts.

Oh, and this was how nice the front of my house looked last year....with all my home grown pumpkins.

Not looking quite that nice yet this year and unfortunantly no such pumpkins.

Well, did you really think any of this would happen this week?

Yeah, me neither but I can dream right?  Maybe start planning?  Maybe run some of these plans by the hubby first?

Hmmm....maybe not yet. 

Timing is everything, eh?

So, been awhile, huh?

I guess I just needed a bit of a break. 

I am learning that when I already can't keep up with everything, sometimes I just have to quit trying to keep up with everything.

You can only imagine how many things got neglected. 

But, I figured it was time to get back on the wagon. 

Again. 

I won't attempt to detail all the events that took place while I've been away. 

But, there is one event that I would like to share...

My little man, Skyler, was baptized last month.

I guess there's a particular sentiment that we mother's share when our firstborn goes through this precious experience.

And can I just say how adorable he is? Just don't tell him I said that.  He's a little sensitive about being called "cute", "adorable" or even "handsome" these days!

Here's our most recent family picture....

So what else has been going on around here?

 The simple answer is:

Just about everything. 

 Trying to keep up with it all is still a daily battle that usually defeats me.

But is there anyone out there who doesn't feel that way? 

 If there is, please.....share your secrets!!

I could use a paddle or two...

The Mother's Day Post That Didn't Happen

This Mother's Day I felt particularly sentimental.  I really took time to reflect upon the opportunity I've had to be a mother and the journey that I have been on in that endeavor.

I spent a couple of hours Mother's Day afternoon, while the rest of my household was sleeping (or playing "quietly" in their rooms...a special Mother's Day treat for me since that never happens) and browsed through file after file on my computer of old pictures chronicling my mothering years thus far. 

I had lofty intentions of documenting many of these pictures in some profound Mother's Day post.

Then life happened.

The household woke up with a start ushering demands upon me: feed me, change me, play with me, listen to me, do this, do that, etc.

My computer was set aside with intentions of returning to post later.

Then Jackson nearly broke his nose on our coffee table while running into the room with a blanket over his head while I helplessly shouted at him to "STOP! STOP!" but, it was already to late.  I finally got to him, picked him up and quickly rushed him into the kitchen, knowing that would most definitely be blood.

And there was.  Tons and tons from that little nose, but I was most grateful that he didn't knock any teeth out!

The following hours of that evening were filled with anxiety of whether or not to take him to the ER, and questions of whether he might have broken his nose or suffered a minor concussion.

Happy Mother's Day to me, right?

In the end we decided not to take him in, and he healed very quickly from the episode.  Which, by the way, he later told me what inspired him to go running in with a blanket over his head....."I BE DI-NO-SORE, SCARE YOU MOMMY, RAAAOORRR!" 

He sure did scare me!

So, the Mother's Day post never happened, but I copied a lot of my favorite pictures into one file....

....and tonight came across them again and decided to share them anyway.  Even if it's just one at a time.  So here you go:

Mother's Day Picture #1

My first baby, Skyler, and I on a snowy, February, Salt Lake City, day.  I don't have many of Skyler's baby pictures, especially ones with me in them due to our computer crashing several times during his early life with backups that were few and far between. 

But I love this picture.

Believe it or not, this was actually a happy time.  A time still full of hope and optimism of a happy life as a family.  It all went downhill shortly after this time.  But, at least in that moment, that smile on my face is real. 

And, I was completely and utterly in love with that little baby and with my newfound motherhood. Afterall, all I really ever wanted to be when I grew up was a mother.

.

.

.

 ......and that is still all I want to be when I grow up.

... more pictures to come later ...

Picture of the Day

Skyler makes some awesome faces sometimes when getting his picture taken. 

Observe below:

Humorous yet a little frightening at the same time!

Love this kid!

Perhaps A Little Overambitious

Please allow me to share a little story with you...

Last year I planted pumpkins.  I did have great plans of planting a large garden, but between time and money, etc, etc, it just never happened.  I did go so far as to buy some various packets of seeds which are currently still up in my cabinet (guess it's due for a good clean-out again).  

Anyway, my garden never got started and all but one of those packs of seeds never got planted.  I would like to point out that last year I was of the opinion that in order to create a garden, I would need the help of my husband.  I think that factored into the equation of the garden never coming to pass last year.  

So, getting back to the point here....

Last year while all the packets of seeds sat quietly up in the cabinet, Kayla planted a pumpkin seed at preschool and shortly after it sprouted, she brought it home and declared that it was "For our garden".   You know, our garden that didn't exist, right?

Well, after keeping the darned thing inside for longer than I should have while I tried to come up with some idea of what to do with it from there, it began to wither and wilt.  I looked at the pathetic thing one day while washing the dishes and felt that horrible pang of guilt that mother's feel when they realize how traumatized their child will be when they realize their beloved plant has died at the hands of their own mother whom they trusted it with.

I looked out my window and knew there was only one thing to do.  I took it into the backyard with a hand trowel, dug a 2 ft. x 2 ft patch into the grass, and planted the sorry sight of a pumpkin plant.  Then I realized that stashed in the cupboard somewhere among the various packets of seeds, was a packet of Jack'o'Lantern seeds. 

I retrieved the packet of "Guaranteed to Grow Orange and White Jack'o'Lantern" seeds and hurredly stuffed them haphazardly into the freshly dug earth.  A few days and a lot of water and miracle-grow later, and about 20 baby pumpkin plant leaves emerged with the promise of covering up the poor dead withered plant that had once been Kayla's hope of producing a home-grown Jack'o'Lantern.

I'm not really sure what I expected pumpkin seeds to do once I planted them in the ground.  Perhaps I thought they would grown like a little bush?  Barely large enough to cover the small patch of dirt I dug for them?  I certainly did not expect that from that small pack of seeds, my entire backyard would become a giant pumpkin patch capable of producing over 55 pumpkins by that fall.  "Wow!" I thought by the end of last year. "If I can grow a pumpkin patch like that down here, then surely I can plant a huge garden."

And this year I did. 

By myself. 

No husband factored into the equation this year.  Had I waited on his assistance, I know it wouldn't have happened this year either.

All I can say though, is that next year I am renting a tiller.  I literally spent days, and days, and days digging out the beds and rows, and patches to plant everything.  But I am excited and pleased with my labors, and will enjoy the "fruits" of it hopefully throughout the whole summer and fall!

This year I have planted:

Pumpkins..........

Orange and White Jack'o'Lanterns again of course, and also a mixture of baby pumpkins and decorative gourds.  Hopefully they are spaced in a way that they will only take over part of my yard though! 

Cucumbers...

Mammouth and Table-top Sunflowers

Sugar-Snap Peas...

Raspberries...

Sweet Corn...

Cilantro...

Lettuce...

Carrots...

Also, spinach, peppers, onions, tomatoes, tomatillos, basil, zucchinni, summer squash, and watermelons....

It's going to be a delicious summer!

Our New "Pet"

When your child walks through the door on a rainy day, holding a cup in his hands, and declares, "Mom! I found a pet for us!" it sends a shiver of fear down your spine.  At least it does when the last time your children caught something outside in a cup,  it was a baby tarantula.

Now he was holding this "thing" in my living room, and I had no idea what was about to come creepy crawling out of that cup.

I wasn't sure I really wanted to know, but I heard the words come out of my mouth.

"WHAT IS IT?" 

He seemed surprised at my tone of voice, but answered enthusiastically,

"I found a SNAIL!"

Um, yeah....didn't see that one coming!  Talk about feeling relieved!

So, after explaining to Skyler that no, he could not keep the snail in his bedroom, the bathroom, or anywhere else in the house, we took it back outside to give it a new home.

After we took a few pictures...

And the snail was happily installed in the guest house (flower pot) off the front porch.  

 

I'm Back

I took a few months to "reprioritize". 

Life can be so busy.  I thought about listing all the things I do regularly, but it made me to tired to think about it.  Then again, it's not quite as bad as it is for this supermom, but I think she and I are both frantically rowing upstream in the same river!

I love this crazy life though, and I still want to document it before I'm old and gray and actually have time to scrapbook again.

Speaking of gray, I am not happy with the changes occuring on the top of my head.  How did one gray hair I'd pull out every few months since I was 16 suddenly turn in to like twenty gray hairs in one year?  Sheesh!  I also would like to know when people will no longer commented on how surprised they are to find out that I'm not as old as I look.  Yeah, that was fun when I was 16 too, but really it's just not that fun anymore.  Shouldn't it be reversing by now?

Okay, enough "observations" for today. I wouldn't want to burn out on blogging this time around already.  I do plan to be back soon. Stay tuned for the next post on our "new pet"....

 

What Makes Dinner Taste So Good?

Lest you think I am the kind of parent that allows toys at the table, you are mistaken. 

Tonight however, Jackson managed to stash his "Car's Cars" somewhere within reach of his seat at the table. After ten minutes of barely hearing him make a sound while eating (very rare for Jackson), we checked on him and found this humorous site...

Who doesn't like to eat Ramen out of Mater's trunk?

P.S. He is hilarious in this outfit.  I think he truly believes he is "Who-Bayer" when he is wearing it....

The "Baby"

Tonight Jackson did not want to go to sleep. 

I knelt beside his bed quietly and gently rubbing his back.  Then slowly I'd rub his neck and his scalp and the contours of his face. 

He lay there with his eyes droopy and a lazy yet unmistakable smile would spread across his face...

kind of like a newborn baby making gas smiles in his sleep...

Then he started to snore................with his eyes still droopy but somehow still open. 

He laid there very still for a few minutes distinctly snoring with his eyes open while I rubbed and rubbed and rubbed......

....all the while praying that he would just close his eyes and drift fully into dreamland; my knees just aren't what they used to be....

But still he lay there giving me that sweet precious smile every so often...

....and I realized that he was not the only one savoring the moment.

* * *

Last night I was looking at his growth record from his Dr's appt the other day.

Jackson has always been a tall little guy, but looking at his actual height in inches really hit home.

I got online and looked up the "double their height at age ___" rule....

It may not be an accurate thing, but I used several suggested methods of predicting a child's potential height....

The different methods all used a different calculation to come to a final result, but they all somehow came to the same final result....

If their predictions are accurate, Jackson's average adult height will be 6'6" tall.  Given the margin of error, all the estimations predicted he would end up between 6'4" and 6'7", favoring more towards the upper end of that scale.

I was struck with a near wave of panic imagining that somehow magically I would wake up in the morning to find my baby a grown man towering over me.

I calmed myself by remembering that I have years still before he will even pass me up.  Plenty of time to adjust to the fact that children just have to grow up.

* * *

Sometime awhile back, I went through a phase where I felt like I was needing to mourn the departure of the baby stage. 

Realizing Jackson would be my last baby, it was like I had to come to terms with putting away the "baby years" of my life.

I cried often over the course of several months, until finally that stage passed as Jackson made the transition from baby to toddler. 

I think the turning point for me was actually when he hit the terrible twos and I decided I was more than ready for him to grow out of something for once!

* * *

Tonight after sneaking out of his room believing he was asleep, then having my belief shattered by a groggy and upset child who came chasing after me, I picked him up and rocked him gently on my shoulder.

As I paced the living room, I caught a glance at he and I in the mirror and noticed how long he had gotten...

....he is well over half my length. 

And I resolved that he may not be little forever, but I am going to try my hardest to make the most of it while he still is....